Housing

Colorado is often ranked among the least affordable housing markets in the country. Even as construction has rebounded in recent years, there is still a shortage of affordable rental and ownership opportunities.

The models highlighted in this report show that when residents have access to and engage with trusted, culturally relevant programs, they are more likely to build credit, accumulate assets, and pursue long-term financial goals.

Despite federal housing cuts that threaten funding and limit state resources for housing, the Colorado state legislature passed several housing bills that will have direct implications for local governments such as Jeffco.

With the close of the 2025 Colorado legislative session, we took stock of our state’s progress on issues key to economic mobility.

In this piece, we summarize the broader problem of lack of affordable housing for middle income Coloradans, and zoom in on Jeffco to assess impacts and effort to address the challenges. 

Read our update to our popular housing primer — a work that breaks down the lack of affordable housing and looks closely at who that affects most.

We explore affordable housing and equity in Colorado’s rural mountain communities in this research by Bell Economic Mobility Fellows.

The 2025 legislative session could be a bumpy ride, driven by scarcity and the need to make substantial cuts to the Colorado state budget for 2025-26.

In 2022, Colorado voters passed Proposition 123, dedicating approximately $300 million annually from the state’s TABOR surplus to support several programs to address housing affordability. Learn more.